Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Iran president says death in custody of Mahsa Amini must be investigated

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Ebrahim Raisi says he has contacted Kurdish woman’s family but laments western double standards on human rights

The death in custody in Iran of a Kurdish woman that led to widespread protests must be “steadfastly” investigated, Iran’s president has said, as he lamented what he claimed were western “double standards” on human rights.

Ebrahim Raisi told a news conference on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York that the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police “must certainly be investigated”.

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Britons released from Russia meet their families after months in captivity

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Pro-Russia separatists had held the prisoners, and it was feared they would be executed for fighting for Ukraine

The five Britons released from Russia overnight are meeting their families after several months of captivity in which it was feared they would be executed for fighting for Ukraine.

Shaun Pinner, who was released alongside Aiden Aslin, was pictured with his family in a hotel room this morning by his mother, Debbie Price, who thanked “all the amazing people” who made his release possible.

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Liz Truss could follow Trump and move UK embassy to Jerusalem

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PM considering breaking with decades of British foreign policy by relocating UK embassy in Israel

Liz Truss has said she is considering relocating the British embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a controversial move that would break with decades of UK foreign policy in order to follow in the footsteps of Donald Trump.

In a meeting on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York, the prime minister told Israel’s caretaker leader, Yair Lapid, about a “review of the current location” of the building, Downing Street said in a statement.

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US congressman accuses LIV CEO Greg Norman of pushing Saudi ‘propaganda’

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  • Australian visits Capitol Hill in attempt to promote rebel tour
  • LIV’s role questioned by Democrats and Republicans

Greg Norman faced accusations of promoting Saudi “propaganda” following meetings with Washington lawmakers, in which the Australian golfer sought to garner support for the Saudi-backed LIV Series in its bitter dispute with the PGA Tour.

Norman, who serves as LIV’s CEO and has been the public face of the breakaway tour, ostensibly came to the US capital this week to criticise what he has called the PGA’s “anti-competitive efforts” to stifle LIV.

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Iran blocks capital’s internet access as Amini protests grow

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Social media platforms have also been cut off in areas of Tehran and Kurdistan as videos of dissent go viral

Iran has shut off the internet in parts of Tehran and Kurdistan and blocked access to platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp in an attempt to curb a growing protest movement that has relied on social media to document dissent.

The protests, which were sparked on 16 September after the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman in police custody, show no sign of subsiding. On Thursday, protesters torched police stations and vehicles in several cities.

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Aiden Aslin among 10 international ‘prisoners of war’ released by Russian authorities

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Five UK and two US foreign fighters captured in Ukraine among 10 freed after Saudi Arabia’s intervention

A Briton who was threatened with execution after being captured by Russian forces during the siege of Mariupol has been released alongside four other Britons and five other international prisoners after the intervention of Saudi Arabia.

Aiden Aslin and “the other British prisoners of war held captive by the Russian authorities” were already on their way back to the UK, said Aslin’s MP, Robert Jenrick, after being flown from Russia to Saudi Arabia.

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Iran sends police to end Mahsa Amini protests as reports say seven killed

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Internet blackouts and Instagram blocks also reported amid anger after 22-year-old woman’s death in custody

Iran has sent police on to the streets in a scramble to end protests that have spread to at least 15 cities, as rights groups and local media reported up to seven people had been killed in crackdowns.

There were reports of internet blackouts in parts of the country while Instagram accounts with Iranian IP addresses were also blocked in an apparent attempt to quell growing anger.

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Palestinian accused of killing elderly Israeli woman dies in apparent suicide

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Police had been searching for Mousa Sarsour after attack on Shulamit Ovadia, 84, near her home in Holon

A Palestinian suspect accused of beating an 84-year-old Jewish Israeli woman to death near Tel Aviv has been found dead, ending a massive police manhunt.

The woman, named by Israeli media as Shulamit Ovadia, was attacked on a street near her home in the city of Holon on Tuesday afternoon.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.

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Syrian refugees mass in convoy on Turkish border to walk into Greece

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Tens of thousands of people are planning to enter EU country together, after alleged racist attacks and rising tensions

Thousands of Syrian refugees are assembling in Turkey in a convoy, which organisers have dubbed the Caravan of Light, in an audacious and desperate attempt to enter the EU en masse.

Since early September, Syrians have been drawing up plans for the journey via a Telegram channel, which now has more than 85,000 members.

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‘It’s going to explode’: young Palestinians look to the gun amid Israeli offensive

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Israel’s Operation Breakwater aims to reduce the enemy’s ability to attack, but seems to be galvanising a new generation of fighters

There is almost nothing left of the Ottoman-era house in the old city of Nablus where Ibrahim al-Nablusi, an 18-year-old fighter with the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, made his final stand against the Israeli army.

Every inch of the remaining walls and ceiling is pockmarked by bullet holes; witnesses said that after a gun battle lasting hours, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) used shoulder-launched rockets to blast open the metal doors. The missiles brought down heavy stonework that crushed the immensely popular young “Lion of Nablus”, wanted for shooting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.

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Mahsa Amini’s brutal death may be moment of reckoning for Iran

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Signs of groundswell taking shape against state that routinely commits extreme acts of violence against men and women

Mahsa Amini’s death in prison is fast becoming another moment of reckoning for the Iranian regime that fears a popular revolt more than it fears staring down the rest of the world.

Four days after Amini was found dead in a Tehran prison cell, protests in the Iranian capital show little sign of slowing. Most protests appear peaceful, but some in Kurdish areas of Iran have turned violent.

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Israeli archaeologists find traces of opium in 3,500-year-old pottery

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Archaeologists say find supports theory that drug was used in burial rituals, possibly to ‘enter ecstatic state’

Israeli archaeologists have discovered opium residue in 3,500-year-old pottery pieces, providing evidence to support the theory that the hallucinogenic drug was used in ancient burial rituals.

The joint investigation by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Weizmann Institute of Science began in 2012 when excavations in the central Israeli town of Yehud revealed a series of late bronze-age graves.

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Three people killed in Iran protests over death of Mahsa Amini

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Kurdistan governor blames deaths on ‘plot by the enemy’ on fourth day of protests over 22-year-old’s death in custody

Iranian government officials have denounced a fourth day of protests after the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman in police custody, claiming the demonstrators have fallen victim to a conspiracy by its enemies.

Mahsa Amini died on Friday after she was arrested by the morality police for not wearing the hijab and her trousers correctly, a tragic episode that has unleashed fury in the streets against the unaccountable and sometimes brutal treatment handed out to women by this branch of the police.

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Israel risks crossing Hezbollah ‘red line’ as it prepares to connect to disputed gas field

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The Karish maritime reservoir, part of which is claimed by Lebanon, is estimated to hold 2-3tn cubic feet of natural gas

Israel is preparing to connect a disputed Mediterranean gas field to its national gas network, a development helping the country cement its new role as a supplier to Europe at the risk of inflaming tensions with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

The Israeli energy ministry said last week that it would conduct tests on the rig and natural transmission system in the Karish maritime reservoir, part of which is claimed by neighbouring Lebanon. The work is expected to begin on Tuesday, and London-listed company Energean, which has licensed the field, has said that it is “on track to deliver [the] first gas from the Karish development project within weeks.”

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Ornate Byzantine floor mosaic discovered by Palestinian farmer

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Archaeologists believe the find in an olive grove in the Gaza Strip dates from 5th-7th century AD

An ornate Byzantine floor mosaic showing colourful birds and other animals has been discovered by chance in Gaza after a Palestinian farmer planted new trees on his land.

Salman al-Nabahin unearthed the mosaic pavement, thought to date from the fifth to the seventh century AD, six months ago while working in his olive orchard in Bureij refugee camp, about half a mile from the border with Israel.

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Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman no longer expected at Queen’s funeral

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Apparent change of heart by de facto ruler suggests relations with west have not fully recovered from murder of Jamal Khashoggi

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is no longer expected to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on Monday, a British Foreign Office source said on Sunday, contrary to Britain’s earlier expectations that he would.

Saudi Arabia would be represented instead by Prince Turki bin Mohammed al Saud, the source said. Prince Turki is a minister of state and has been a member of the cabinet since 2018. He is the grandson of late King Fahd and part of the new generation that has been brought to power by Prince Mohammed.

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Iran president rules out meeting with Biden, saying it won’t be beneficial

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Ebrahim Raisi says he sees no ‘changes in reality’ from Trump administration as hopes to revive nuclear talks dampen

Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, has ruled out a meeting with Joe Biden on the margins of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) this week, saying he saw no “changes in reality” from the Trump administration.

Raisi underlined the firm position of his government and dampened hopes that a week of summitry at UNGA in New York might yield any progress in negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Washington has rejected the latest Iranian bargaining positive as “not constructive”, and most observers believe there will be no breakthroughs at least until after the US congressional elections in November.

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Mahsa Amini: dozens injured in Iran protests after death in custody

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Amini, 22, reportedly beaten by morality police in Tehran for not complying with hijab regulations

More than 30 Iranians were injured, some seriously, while taking to the streets to protest after the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman three days after she was arrested and reportedly beaten by morality police in Tehran.

The circumstances of Mahsa Amini’s death on Friday are hotly contested, but her family denied official reports that she suffered from epilepsy and instead claimed she was beaten by police.

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Benjamin Netanyahu gets campaign show on the road in ‘Bibibus’

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Former Israeli prime minister rallies supporters from behind bulletproof glass of modified delivery van

As Israel prepares to head to the ballot box for the fifth time in less than four years, the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned to a new gimmick in the hope of energising a weary electorate: the “Bibibus”.

Likened to the popemobile or an aquarium, the rightwing Likud party leader is on the campaign trail in a modified delivery van, one of the sides of which has been replaced with bulletproof glass.

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Laughing all the way to the West Bank: the blind Palestinian comedian tearing down barriers

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Joke by joke, standup sensation Sherihan El Hadwa is challenging lazy stereotypes about victimhood

On a small stage in Tulkarm, a city in the north of the occupied West Bank, Sherihan El Hadwa emerges from the wings to a Palestinian pop song. Dancing and waving the long white cane she uses to navigate the world, the visually impaired comedian already has her audience laughing and clapping along to the music.

Hadwa did not have an obvious route into standup comedy, and the many difficulties of life as a disabled woman in the Palestinian territories are not a straightforwardly humorous topic.

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